...quite panic itself

Senior Member

Dear All!
Help me about the following passage, please! The words in bold are problematic:
"This threat, not just to the region but generally to the Allied oil supply, to US aid for the Soviet Union, and to the lifeline of the British Empire in southern Asia and beyond, was chillingly significant at the time and sent Allied commanders spinning into something akin to panic, but perhaps not quite panic itself.
The passage is about Nazi Regime and its attempts for sabotage in Persia. It is from this book:

Nazi Secret Warfare

in Occupied Persia (Iran)
The Failure of the German Intelligence
Services, 1939–45​